We hope our readers enjoyed a trip down Memory Lane last week when we published some of the many highlights in our 2013 Year in Review for both the Sartell and St. Joseph Newsleaders.
The reporters who compiled those summaries were both amazed by how many good changes and how many interesting people contributed to life in those two cities, both of which showed dynamic, positive growth in virtually every way – from infrastructure development to new housing, from academic achievements to cultural innovations, from local sports triumphs to successful farmers’ markets.
What is also amazing is how many people in those cities did so many interesting things in 2013. They were the subjects of so many feature stories in both Newsleaders throughout the year. And in 2014, our newspaper staff hopes to do even more interesting human-interest stories. Most of those stories come from people who tell us about them through phone calls, emails or postal mail. Most often such news sources are teachers, parents, co-workers, friends, neighbors or relatives of people they know who are particularly interesting or who have done or are about to do something noteworthy: a fascinating trip, earning an award, doing a fundraiser, helping raise awareness about an issue and virtually every other kind of human endeavor.
We ask our good and loyal readers to keep those kinds of story ideas coming strong in 2014.
We also ask those readers to remember the following two tips when submitting story ideas:
1. This is the most important tip: Be sure to include the telephone number of the person you would like us to interview for a story, as well as your own telephone number. It’s not enough to suggest we interview, say, Betty Jones. That is because the phone number for Betty Jones, most likely, will be impossible to find in a telephone book – first of all because Jones is probably her husband’s last name and Betty’s name won’t be listed alongside her husband’s in a phone book; and second, because as many as one in three people have cell phones, not land phones, and thus do not have their names listed in phone books. Many potentially interesting stories had to be dropped by the Newsleaders because we did not receive enough information (mainly a lack of phone numbers) to pursue the stories.
2. Tell us briefly why the person is interesting or why this story would be a good one to write for the newspaper. It’s also helpful to tell us if the person is from Sartell, St. Joseph or St. Stephen. That is because people have to be residents of one of those cities or connected in some way to them before we will do stories about them. Our readers like us to keep our local papers local, stories and people specific to each city.
Always remember, if there are any questions, feel free to call the Newsleader office at 320-363-7741. Or email your story idea or send questions via email to news@thenewsleaders.com
We look forward to hearing more good story ideas from you in 2014, and our reporters are eager to begin covering another great year in our respective cities.
